Twosome Place Leads Starbucks in Payments Amidst Marketing Controversy

The South Korean coffee market is experiencing a shake-up, with Twosome Place outranking Starbucks in payment volume for the third month in a row. This trend follows a significant controversy surrounding Starbucks Korea's 'Tank Day' marketing campaign, which was criticized for trivializing the May 18th Gwangju Uprising.

Data from IGAWorks' mobile analytics solution, Mobile Index, revealed that Twosome Place's estimated credit and check card payment volume reached 117.05 billion won in May. In contrast, Starbucks' estimated payment volume for the same period was 110.05 billion won, placing Twosome Place ahead by approximately 7 billion won. This marks the first time Twosome Place has surpassed Starbucks in monthly payment volume over the past three years.

In June, Twosome Place recorded 120.68 billion won in payments, while Starbucks saw 100.38 billion won, widening the gap to over 20 billion won. The initial shift occurred after Starbucks' controversial 'Tank Day' promotion, which featured a 'tank tumbler' and marketing phrases that some interpreted as echoing a past government cover-up of a student's death during the 1980s pro-democracy movement. Following the backlash, Starbucks experienced a decrease in weekly payment volume and new app installations.

However, the competitive landscape is dynamic. In the most recent month, Starbucks' payment volume rose by 9.6% compared to the previous month, while Twosome Place saw a 3.0% decrease. This narrowed the gap between the two brands. Industry observers suggest that the rise of Twosome Place and other budget coffee brands predates the controversy, but Starbucks' recent issues have accelerated shifts in market competition.